Staying Alive provides a fresh perspective on health, health care, and illness that will be of interest to a wide range of readers in the fields of health studies, nursing, and social policy.
In addition to traditional health sciences and sociological approaches, the book provides human rights and political economy perspectives on health, focusing on Canada and the United States within an international context. This unique collection also includes chapters on pharmaceutical policy, social class, race, gender and care, the social construction of illness and disability, and approaches to promoting population health that include insights into the impact of economic forces such as globalization and privatization.
The second edition has been thoroughly updated and features a new chapter on research methodology; expanded discussions of inequality, women's health, public health and public policy; more material on First Nations health; and a new discussion of the historical development of the Canadian medicare system.

Toba Bryant is a co-editor of Staying Alive: Critical Perspectives on Health, Illness, and Health Care as well as a contributor to Social Determinants of Health: Canadian Perspectivs. She is Assistant Professor of Sociology at York University and an Associate of the Centre for Urban and Community Studies at the University of Toronto.

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Dennis Raphael, PhD, is a Professor of Health Policy and Management at York University. The most recent of his over 250 scientific publications have focused on the health effects of income inequality and poverty, the quality of life of communities and individuals, and the impact of government decisions on Canadians’ health and well-being. Dr. Raphael is editor of Tackling Health Inequalities: Lessons from International Experiences and Health Promotion and Quality of Life in Canada; co-editor of Staying Alive: Critical Perspectives on Health, Illness, and Health Care; and author of Poverty in Canada: Implications for Health and Quality of Life.

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Marcia H. Rioux is a Distinguished Research Professor in the School of Health Policy and Management at York University and Principal Investigator and Co-Director of Disability Rights Promotion International.

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"By using broad methodological approaches, such as social epidemiology, critical sociology, and, more particularly, political economy and a human rights analysis, the authors included in this volume achieve incisive and novel insights in the study of health and health care. The book that follows, above all, provides us with critical methods to understand the health system, particularly in Canada, at this historical juncture."— “Gary Teeple, Professor of Sociology, Simon Fraser University